


She Wanted Storms

by C_Squared



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-09 16:06:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3256067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_Squared/pseuds/C_Squared
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For centuries Carmilla Karnstein has been kicking up her heels as the best undead assassin in the game. Laura Hollis has spent the last four years trying to figure out how to be the vampire slayer. So when Laura reaches out to Carmilla with a job, it's not what she expects at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. She Was Into Losing Streaks

**Author's Note:**

> This lovely work was co-written by Carter (sexshark) and Caitlin (operativelawsons). You can follow us on tumblr for updates and information. Happy Reading!
> 
> WARNINGS: There includes some vague mentions to suicide so trigger warning!

The rain was coming down in heavy drops, hitting the gravel road and exploding upon impact. It was a sight that had Carmilla Karnstein mesmerized. She enjoyed watching the water hit the surface and expand out, the tap that accompanied it linked to a cannon boom in her mind. Sometimes the simple things were all it took to amuse her.

Carmilla was leaning on a rail on a bridge in the middle of New York City, waiting on her contact to show up. Centuries had passed since she had become a creature of the night, and while some vampires got their kicks tormenting and hunting humans, forming weird vampire cults and wreaking havoc, Carmilla found her calling in becoming an assassin. It was an odd job, but Carmilla was great at it. It wasn’t that she enjoyed taking lives. She enjoyed the chase and the hunt, the thrill of finally succeeding - whether her mark knew they were hunted or not.

What brought her to this bridge at night and in the middle of a thunder storm was the thrill. The contact had been made, money was wired, and all details were arranged in order to line up the services of the best contract killer in the game. Sure, the vampire strength and speed held a certain advantage, but Carmilla faced challenges that others like her didn’t - she had a perky, and thoroughly irritating vampire slayer on her tail. Since 1698 Carmilla had been dodging the slayers, taking out her own fair share in the process but none of them possessed the qualities of annoyance so completely as Laura Hollis.

For hours, Carmilla had been staking out some Ukrainian crime lord’s warehouse and had been starting to grow bored of the her target’s constant eating and sexing. She was really starting to contemplate whether it would be worth it to just barge in and take the guy out when she appeared.

It took a truly skilled person to sneak up on Carmilla and, for a brief moment, she was afraid that this was her end - that is, until Laura started to speak. The tiny human launched straight into a spiel about who she was, what she did, and what she knew Carmilla did, and most importantly why Carmilla’s days of assassination were over permanently. Laura’s sheer determination and plucky, affirmative head nods were even slightly endearing to Carmilla - until she received a face full of vampire spray at the bite-sized girl’s hands. The slayer was a little less endearing after that and Carmilla was forced to flee for her life.

It was the first hit she had ever failed.

Since then, they had engaged in a long, drawn out game of cat and mouse. Sometimes Carmilla would get her kill, sometimes Laura would save them. Either way, Laura brought a renewed sense of excitement to Carmilla’s life and Carmilla took pleasure in knowing that she brought an endless stream of frustration to Laura’s 

For four years, the two had been doing their waltz of back and forth and Carmilla had come to realize that Laura Hollis really was the most consistent thing in her afterlife. She had ended up getting to know her - unbeknownst to Laura, of course. For an entire month, Carmilla had followed Laura around, learning the ins and outs of her life. Carmilla had justified this with the belief that the best way to eliminate a target was to study them in depth and not at all with the fact she was vaguely interested in Laura in a slightly less than professional manner. In her arsenal of Laura Hollis Knowledge, Carmilla knew she had a father with whom she was extremely close and in turn he was ridiculously overprotective. So much so that Carmilla almost felt suffocated just knowing about his tendencies to sign Laura up for every known self defense class and the endless ‘survival kits’ that made their way to her door. In addition to the overprotective father, Carmilla discovered that Laura had giant girlfriend that she inexplicably liked. Carmilla had followed Danny Lawrence around for half a day before deciding she would rather take a stake to the chest than spend any amount of time with that overgrown redhead. She was also protective of Laura but not quite at the crazy level of her father. And then there were the two outlandishly annoying Ginger Twins who were Laura’s best friends and may have been dating. Even if they didn’t know themselves, yet. It nauseated Carmilla, the way that LaFountaine and Perry seemed to orbit one another and react to the other so absent mindedly. It was a sickeningly sweet sight.

From her vantage point, Laura’s life looked extremely normal and average. How she got mixed up in the vampire slaying game was a mystery to Carmilla. As much as she tried to carry on with her devil-may-care attitude, she had been working tirelessly in her free time to unearth the secret behind Laura’s slaying.

There was also a part of her that was envious of the life Laura led behind the scenes when she wasn’t doing the slayer thing. The closest thing that Carmilla had to anything like Laura’s life was in an overgrown puppy named Kirsch who had started following her around after she had saved his life in an effort to piss her brother off. Of course, Carmilla wouldn’t have done that had she known that saving his life meant he’d be around constantly. Still, He wasn’t bad company all the time and he did do a surprisingly good job of keeping their crash pads clean. Every so often Carmilla would bring Kirsch along on a job, for the company or the help, but he had a tendency to go into lectures on the moral implications of killing people whenever Carmilla tasked him to help. Carmilla had a begrudging affection for Kirsch, but hardly anything like the love Laura had for the people in her life.

But Laura Hollis wasn’t supposed to be on Carmilla’s mind right now - she was never really supposed to be on her mind anyway, but she certainly did take up a large chunk of her thoughts on a daily basis. Tonight was about a job, though. A job that hopefully Laura would get wind of, and then she’d be forced to track her down for another round in the ring. Laura was a dangerous habit she just didn’t want to get rid of.

The rain was falling a little harder now, rattling down on her umbrella in a series of taps and Carmilla was starting to feel the impatience setting in. In her bountiful years of experience, when hiring a contract killer, it was a general rule of thumb to show up on time and not piss said killer off. Lateness always left her with an uneasy feeling in her gut - as though it were a warning sign that things were about to go south. 

With continuous glances at her watch, Carmilla could feel the heat rise from her spine, the worry setting in that this job had been a total mistake. She was debating whether or not to just leave right then and there.

“Waiting for someone?” A voice asked in a dead tone from behind. It was a voice that Carmilla would know anywhere, even with the unusual tone. As sad as it sounded, there was still a hint of eternal optimism and sunshine that could only belong to one human.

“God damn,’ Carmilla laughed hollowly, closing her eyes tight as she dropped her head. She gave her head a small shake before turning to face the girl that had been haunting her thoughts just moments ago. It was an ingenious plan, Carmilla had to give Laura credit for that.

The idea had been to turn and launch herself at Laura but Carmilla faulted the second she caught sight of the other. Laura looked smaller standing under a large black umbrella. Carmilla’s eyes narrowed on her, detecting that something was off. Even in a thunderstorm, Laura had the effect of radiating like a little personal sunshine, but that was missing right now. The happiness seemed vacant, the warmth completely gone. It just wasn’t the Laura that Carmilla knew.

“Relax.” Laura said in the same flat tone, her hand leaving her coat pocket to indicate for Carmilla to stay. “It’s not a trap, it’s a job.” There was almost a smile on her hard lips as she moved over to the railing, leaning against it to look out at the water.

Instantly the curiosity in Carmilla was piqued. Why did little Miss Goody Two Shoes want her services? Carmilla knew she needed to stay on her defense but this had been the longest she had been around Laura without a fight breaking out. Even worse, everything seemed wrong with Laura - not that she really cared at all. It was a ploy for all she knew, a carefully thought-out, strategic plan to catch Carmilla off-guard before staking her. Still, she could play along with this until Laura revealed her hand. “Listen cutie, I know you’ve only been stalking me for four years and all but typically my jobs require killing someone.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here.”

Everything was wrong with this situation. Even when Laura was going out of her way to try and kill Carmilla, she had this peppy little step and attitude alongside it. The Laura standing in front of her was completely dejected and flat and while she really, really didn’t care, it had Carmilla a little worried. Even worse, the morally straight compass Laura carried had clearly gone haywire since she was standing in front of Carmilla, trying to contract her into a killing.

“You want me to kill someone for you?” Carmilla asked, her brow knotted together in concentration as she tried to gain a read on Laura. She let out a breath and shook her head, “Well this ought to be good. Tell me, sweetheart, who’s the target? Another vampire that gets the best of you?”

Laura turned her head to look at Carmilla, her hand wrapped tight around the umbrella. The vampire that tormented her for four years, who always seemed to have a witty comeback and knew all her grand plans before they even unfolded, really had no idea what was coming. And for that, Laura found an ounce of joy. 

“Me.” Laura finally said, eyes carefully watching Carmilla for her response, to see if she could throw the curveball.

A laugh came from Carmilla. This really was the most creative plan to trap her that she had ever encountered. The surprise aspect was exceeding expectations. She partially wondered if Laura was really the mastermind of this ridiculous plan.

“Good one, cupcake.” Carmilla said, a bemused smile settling on her lips. “I’ve got to say that is one hell of opening to distract me. When does your little scooby gang swoop in to try and catch me?” With a playful raise of her eyebrows, Carmilla held her arms out and spun in a little circle, looking at the empty night sky, “Come and get me then, cause this-” She said, turning her head to cast a glare at Laura, “-sure ain’t working.”

Laura shifted uncomfortably, crossing her arms over her chest as she just watched Carmilla. Her opening certainly could have been better but she didn’t enjoy being outright mocked like this. Of course, Carmilla certainly didn’t understand the crushing loneliness that had been steadily creeping into her own heart over the last few years. “It’s not a joke.” Laura said quietly, “Or a trap.”

“Alright, sweetheart.” Carmilla shot back, ceasing her little show-off spin.

“It’s _not_ , Carmilla. There is no trap or plan. I’m here to hire you. So if you aren’t going to take this seriously, just tell me so I can stop wasting my time.” Laura quipped back, a slight edge invading her tone, warning Carmilla.

Carmilla’s eyes settled on Laura’s tight-lipped determination and it dawned on her that maybe Little Miss Can-do wasn’t jerking her around after all. The air still hung stale around them and Carmilla still wasn’t able to shake the odd feeling that had stuck to her ever since she set foot on this bridge. Laura wasn’t lying.

The metaphorical wind was knocked right out of Carmilla and if she could, she would have stopped breathing. Her jaw slacked open and the shock was registered in her wide eyes and for the first time Laura smiled, but it was hardly a real smile, more of a sad smile she was throwing out in pity as Carmilla finally meet her eyes..

This wasn’t happening. Four years they had been playing this chess match of moves and countermoves, and in all the scenarios for their end, Carmilla had not imagined this.

Their end was supposed to come in a blaze of glory, in an abandoned back alley, maybe on a night much like this. Both of them beaten and bruised and bloody. And it was always supposed to be Carmilla, at the end of all of this, never Laura.. She was the stronger of them, the one with more to lose and more to fight for. The centuries had worn on Carmilla, and if she was to meet her demise, she didn’t really mind Laura being the one to show it to her. Yes, there was an endgame here, but this wasn’t it.

“I’m not killing you.” Carmilla said finally, her tone betraying how deeply offended she felt about all this.

Laura smiled again. She had expected this. It was impossible to explain how she could predict Carmilla’s moves and follow her unspoken thoughts. She would make this request and Carmilla would deny it, it was practically written in the stars. “Why? I thought that you’ve been trying to kill me since that night in the Ukraine.” The throwback widened the grin on Laura’s lips, a younger face flashing her mind, partnered with clumsy fighting and a sloppy escape. Not much had changed between them, only that Laura had grown weary and jaded over the years. Maybe the chase had finally caught up with her.

“Well, _yeah_.” Carmilla shot back quickly, sputtering out the words, “But that’s different, you’ve been trying to kill me, too.”

“Do you really believe that?” Laura asked as the question appeared in her mind. Maybe that very first night she had been aiming to stake Carmilla, when she was just a vampire to Laura and not anything more.

Carmilla was off balance in so many ways right now and that question didn’t help. She wanted to blurt out a quick yes and back it up with all their run-ins over the last four years but the scenes started flashing through her mind, playing like a film montage. Laura hadn’t been trying to kill and she definitely hadn’t been trying to kill Laura.

“It’s our game. I hunt you, you hunt me, we fight. I flee, you chase, and then we start it all over again.” Carmilla said, a pathetic attempt to bite back in her voice. She repeated, “It’s our game.”

“I’m done playing, Carm.”

Carmilla shaken by this whole exchange already, but to hear Laura so affectionately shorten her name - to hear the sadness and defeat as she said “Carm” - completely unnerved her. They hadn’t been trying to kill each other at all, but now Carmilla was being hired to do just that.

“What about your girlfriend? And your dad? And your weird Ginger Twin friends?” Carmilla shot back desperately, trying to reach the most humanized things in Laura’s heart. She was always swelling with love, and getting killed by an assassin she hired herself didn’t seem like a very loving thing in Carmilla’s playbook.

“How did you-” Laura paused, her eyes narrowing on Carmilla as it registered in her mind. She had been there, in the shadows lurking and watching all those years ago. “I always thought you were following me. It was like I felt you.” There was a smile again as Laura recalled the moments she believed Carmilla to be there, in the normal part of her life. These smiles were ripping Carmilla apart inside, because they were not real Laura smiles, they didn’t carry happiness and joy in them. They didn’t seem warm. They were cold and miserable, two words that just didn’t go with Laura.

“I make it a habit to learn everything about people who want to stake me.” Carmilla responded defensively, recovering before Laura could noticed just how rocked she was by this conversation.

“It doesn’t matter.” Laura responded with a wave of her hand, dismissing whatever lame excuse Carmilla had dreamed up.. “I’m sure it will just help you and give you a headstart on the job. You already know your target this way.”

“The job I’m not taking and the target I’m not killing, you mean.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, _I’m not, cupcake_. And there is nothing you can say that is going to make me.” A deep frown crossed Carmilla’s lips as she folded her arms defiantly in front of her chest. Laura almost rolled her eyes at how childish she was being.

Instead of pressing, Laura backed off for a moment, leaning against the rail in silence and looking between Carmilla and the water. Moves and countermoves. Just like it always was with them. The sound of the rain was amplified now, filling the silence that was making Carmilla so uncomfortable.

“The only reason you’re fighting this is because you care about me.” Laura challenged after a few moments, ignoring the warmth in her belly as she imagined Carmilla caring. “You don’t really have anyone else in your life. I know you haven’t spoken to your mother in years, even though she is constantly asking you to join her cult. I know you hate Will and constantly try and save the girls and guys he takes. That’s why that frat boy Brody Kirsch is with you. I think he’s the closest thing you have to a friend. And the last time you had a girlfriend was 1746 and your mother killed her in the end. So take them out of the picture and all you have is me and you won’t kill me because of that. You must care about me.”

Laura truly hoped the last part was true because even with her own mortality coming so close, she wanted Carmilla to care about her. Reading the volumes on Carmilla that the Watcher Council had compiled over centuries had left her filled with such sadness for the vampire. A life without love and affection had to be cold and lonely. It left Laura with no wonder why Carmilla had turned towards assassination - a person had to be severely damaged and broken to kill so freely. She had hoped that if Carmilla cared about her, just genuinely cared about a person then perhaps some of that damage inside of her would start to heal.

But right now, there was nothing but anger for Laura, boiling inside of Carmilla - how dare she invade her privacy like that? and just to throw it in her face? She didn’t care for her mother or Will, and Kirsch just wouldn’t leave her. The last thing she needed was a reminder of all that from a girl who had everything she longed for. 

None of the other slayers she had disposed of had ever given her this much trouble. None of them had ever breeched her defenses and poisoned her vein like a drug that gave sweet relief. None of them were Laura.

_“When?”_ Carmilla growled, her face hard as her eyes glared at Laura. This was the last job she ever wanted to take but the sooner Laura Hollis was gone from her life permanently, the quicker she could get on with her life.

The when hit Laura’s ears and the smallest of exhales came from her body. She had been prepared for a lengthy fight but had hoped for Carmilla’s cooperation as soon as possible. She dipped her head for a moment, the burden lifting from her body. The end was beginning. Composing herself, worried she may have given Carmilla second thoughts, Laura turned back towards the vampire.

“I don’t want to know when.” Laura said, her eyes on Carmilla, keeping her tone flat, not letting her voice betray how she really felt about any of this. “Or how. It’s all up to you. I’ll wire five-hundred grand tonight to whatever account you want and have the other five-hundred wired after.”

“You really think you are only worth one-million sweetheart?” Carmilla asked, trying to bring herself back to her snarky, emotionally-detached self.

A faint smiled danced over Laura’s lips at Carmilla’s quip, “How much am I worth, then?”

“Easily a cool three-million.”

A beat passed between them, light smiles on both their faces that were completely out of place in this conversation.

“Thanks.” Laura said with a head nod, finally sounding like herself as her eyes locked with Carmilla, causing the vampire to secretly swell with pride at finally doing something right in this whole damned exchange.

Another moment passed and Carmilla recalled just where they were and what they were doing and slipped her hand into her pocket to extract a small square of paper. She held it out to Laura, “That’s the account.” Laura reached out, her fingers brushing against Carmilla’s as they took the paper, sending a wave of warmth though both of them. Carmilla ignored it, but Laura let her hand linger. 

Those numbers meant the end of Laura’s life, and for a small piece of paper, it felt like a weight. Once the money was wired, their final game would begin, officially. Laura knew she couldn’t just go down without a fight but she also wasn’t going to be trying her hardest by any means. She just knew that if she gave up completely, Carmilla would as well and everything was riding on a vampire assassin. 

Putting the paper in her pocket, Laura broke away. She dipped her head and nodded before turning away from Carmilla so she could walk away. Part of Laura secretly hoped that Carmilla would just pull a pistol and shoot her in the back right then and there. That wasn’t in the rules or the spirit of the game, though. Part of Carmilla actually contemplated doing just that, as payback for Laura even initiating this, but Carmilla was still rooted in her spot, eyes watching the other retreat.

“I’ll see you around.” Laura said, stopping briefly to look over her shoulder at Carmilla for one last time. She almost sounded like herself.


	2. The Right Words From The Wrong Mouth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Co-written by Carter (sexshark) and Caitlin (operativelawsons). You can follow us on Tumblr for random nonsense and updates.

The perfect San Diego sun beat down upon Laura as she stood on the beach. She dipped her toes in the Pacific as wave after wave crashed down and came to sweep around her ankles. She shut her eyes and inhaled the salty scent of the ocean. To Laura, the sea air was better than perfume, and a big part of why she had settled on living on the beach instead of some suburban neighborhood.

Twenty-four hours ago she had put a contract out on her own life, and something about her numbered days had her never wanting to leave this spot. This was the closest to thing to peace she knew.

There was a time when Laura really had been the happy, go lucky girl everyone thought her to be. Her biggest worry was studying for her finals and figuring out if the cute TA in her literature class was actually interested in her. Her days were easy and carefree and, most importantly, normal. Vampires, werewolves and monsters were the things of fairy tales, books and movies. They weren’t real.

That all changed just two months before her college graduation when the JP, the librarian of Silas University, cornered her and tried to explain that vampires and demons were real and that a slayer existed to battle and defeat them.. None of it made sense to Laura and, despite her best efforts to shake JP off, he kept tailing her. He kept trying to explain that she was supposed to be this next “Slayer” and he was her mentor or something like that. It all sounded like a teen novel to her. 

She lived in denial for a month. She kept the conversation she’d had with JP to herself, for fear that someone might think they were both crazy. She still wasn’t totally convinced that _he_ wasn’t. But of course, being the born-investigator that she was, Laura couldn’t help but do a little research of her own. She found plenty of material, but she was constantly having to sift through pseudo-science enthusiasts and lonely bloggers to find kernels of genuine evidence. At the end of the day, however, she faced enough information that it was difficult for her remain in defiance of JP’s claims 

The only people Laura could trust with such news were LaFontaine and Perry - although she had accurately predicted their reactions. Perry stated that there was simply no such thing as vampires and that Laura needed to cut the sugar before bed. LaF, however, had nodded their head eagerly, jumping on board with JP instantly, and started asking Laura for her sources so they could read up on it as well.

It was LaFontaine’s approval that spurred Laura onto tracking JP down once more, telling him that while she didn’t fully, totally believe in such things - and she highly doubted she was the slayer - but that she would agree to train with him, if only to show him that he must have been wrong. Her denial carried on for another two weeks, Laura attributing her sudden strength and skill to the fact she had grown up taking Krav Maga and Tae-Kwon-Do. It wasn’t until Laura had staked her first vampire she finally conceded that everything JP had been saying was true.

Four years later, not much had changed for Laura except now she was chasing down vampires and demons all over the world. Journalism made for a good cover and every so often she’d pick up the odd assignment or two for travel magazines and the like. The only real big change in that time was Danny.

From the moment Laura reluctantly accepted her destiny, she had given up hope on a normal life, on Danny. There hadn’t even been a real thing with Danny at that time anyway. Just a few hello’s, one coffee, and sporadic sightings throughout the campus. It turned out that Danny’d had different plans and was really just waiting on Laura to graduate and not be in her class anymore.

She tried to shake Danny with pathetic excuses but the redhead was so damned stubborn. Laf and Perry of course had encouraged Laura to go after Danny, to explain the truth but Laura had been afraid of pulling Danny into this world. JP encouraged her as well, reminding her that love and family and friends were the only thing more important than slaying - something Laura was sure would get him in trouble with his weird slayer mentor Council of Mystery if it were ever repeated.

In the end, Danny had taken the news astonishingly well, and was even willing to help Laura out from time to time. The whole slayer thing had thrown a wrench in her original plans, but somehow it had worked out for her. Well, for a time anyway. Four years later, she didn’t have the same big, bright eyes and determination for her destiny. She was tired. So for a moment, with her toes between wet sand, eyes shut, a smile on her lips and the sun shining down on her, Laura could imagine a life without burden.

A pair of long arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into a body. Instinctively, Laura brought her hands up to rest on Danny’s forearms and let herself sink back into the familiarity of her girlfriend. She loved Danny, God she loved her, but things had become so routine and comfortable and safe. That had to be normal though, right? Especially for a couple who had been together for as long as they had.

“I booked our plane tickets.” Danny said, lightly swaying as she pressed a series of kisses to the top of Laura’s head. “One month and we’re on our way to St. Lucia. Do you think Perry knows LaF is going to propose?”

Laura kept her eyes shut and exhaled slowly. Would she be here in a month? Would she get to go on the vacation and see the proposal and celebrate with her friends or would Carmilla finish her before then? If she reached out to Carmilla and asked her to wait a month, would she agree? Or move up her own timetable just to screw with Laura? Twenty-four hours ago she hadn’t been thinking of St. Lucia, but now she was.

“Probably not.” Laura finally said, silently thankful Danny had been patient in her silence.

“You okay?” God, did Danny have to sound so in love and so worried about Laura? The guilt was crushing her now. Laura nodded a little and turned in Danny’s arms, resting her head right against her chest, the solid and steady beat of her heart filling Laura’s ears. Danny was so strong, so able to put up with the craziness of this life but she was still so protective over Laura, so built on making sure no harm came to her from the outside she didn’t realize the damage Laura was doing to herself.

“Laura?” Danny asked again, her arms tightening around the small figure, “You’re really quiet. Did everything go okay yesterday? Did you get hurt?” She wanted to pull back and check over Laura but the other girl had her arms wrapped so tight around her so knew she wouldn’t get her to loosen her grip for anything.

“I’m fine.” Laura responded, inhaling Danny’s scent and trying to ground herself in the familiarity of Danny’s strength so that she wouldn’t betray her secret.. “I just really like being here with you like this.”

******************************************************************************

By the time Carmilla had made it back to her current safe house, her mood was completely ruined and her hostility at an all time high. She had used her her taxi driver as a juice box just because he had scoffed when she requested he change the radio station. His death was on Laura’s hands. After all, it was Laura that had Carmilla all twisted right now and so everything could, and _would_ , be pinned on the slayer.

Within seconds of opening the door, Kirsch was hopping off the couch and bouncing towards her, a thousand questions coming with no breaths between. “So who’s the target? Anyone fun? Do you need help? I’ve totally been practicing my ninja skills. Wha-pah! Who is it? Whoa…” Kirsch finally trailed off as he looked at Carmilla, an irritating scowl all over her face. “You got a little dinner on your face.” He said, pointing to the corner of his own lip to indicate where she’d missed a spot.

“Thanks.” Carmilla dead-panned, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Dropping her bag, she brushed past Kirsch and sat down on the couch to flip the channel off of whatever sports game Kirsch had been watching. 

“So who are we killing?” Kirsch asked again as he jumped over the back of the couch and sat down next to Carmilla.

It would have been so easy to just snap Kirsch’s neck, even from her seated position. But it wasn’t him she was angry with, and as murderous as she felt in this moment, she knew she’d end up regretting killing him. So let her homicidal urge pass over her. Carmilla knew that if she didn’t answer, he’d just keep asking and her patience was already waning. No need to press her - or Kirsch’s - luck. “Laura Hollis.”

“Whoa! Someone wants to take out slayer hottie?” Carmilla twisted her head quickly and nailed Kirsch with a dirty look. “What? She’s a totally hottie and you know it. Anyway, who’s ballsy enough to order a hit on the slayer?”

“Laura Hollis.” Carmilla replied, her voice completely void of emotion as she turned her attention back towards the television. A rather amused grin crossed onto her lips as she caught sight of Kirsch’s extremely confused look from her peripheral vision.

“She put a hit on _herself_? That’s seriously messed up. Is it a trap? Cause she’s been trying to kill you forever.”

“Do you really believe that?” Carmilla asked, echoing Laura’s words that had been haunting her. Before she said that, Carmilla did believe that was the endgame. All the times they fought and she failed were just build up, a mind game designed to make Carmilla believe she had the upper hand before the fatal blow, but that wasn’t the case. For the briefest of moments, Carmilla did entertain the idea that the hit and everything was a very cunning ploy. But when she thought of Laura, of her posture and her tone and that sad smile when they made the deal, Carmilla knew it wasn’t.

“Uh, _duh_.” Kirsch said, interrupting Carmilla’s thoughts, “I’ve seen her try and kill you with my own two eyes. Multiple times. Seems cheap though, the whole making you take her out instead of fighting. I’d go down with a fight. Wonder why Slayer Hottie doesn’t want to.”

It was one of those simple statements from Kirsh that got the gears in Carmilla’s brain going. She wanted to know why, and she wanted to go back to yesterday and tell Laura no. Her stupid emotions got the better of her and she let her anger say yes.Why in the world did Laura want to die?

“New email for you.” Kirsh said, once more pulling Carmilla back from her thoughts. He handed the computer over and snatched the remote, pumping his fist in victory as he switched the game back. Carmilla shot him a glare before settling her attention on the email. It was from Laura. Against her better judgement, Carmilla clicked it open.

_From: laura2theletter@gmail.com_  
To: heycarmilla@gmail.com  
Subject: One Request Regarding The Job 

_I know that I told you I didn’t care when, and I still don’t, but I have a request. LaFontaine, Perry, Danny and I are going to St. Lucia next month. LaF is proposing finally. I don’t want my death to get in the way of that. So please, just wait until after that before finishing the job. Thank you._

With a growl, Carmilla snapped the laptop shut, startling Kirsch in the process. How the hell was she so cool about all of this? How could Laura just whip up a candid email about her own death? The anger was back in Carmilla. The anger and the hurt, all because of Laura Hollis. Part of Carmilla wanted to just and take her out right then as payback for her candor, for her ease in just asking and paying Carmilla to kill her. Instead she just sat shaking from head to toe in anger, ignoring the sting in her eyes. Laura could have her little vacation, or at least a part of it.

******************************************************************************

For the next few days, Carmilla attempted to push the job from her mind - a task that was proving difficult thanks to Kirsch. He was way too eager about taking on this contract and it was starting to bug Carmilla, though not to the point where she felt like voicing her annoyance.. While Kirsch came off as big and dumb, over the years Carmilla had discovered he was quite insightful when he took the time to be. She pretended that it was solely this attribute of his that kept him alive and in her service.

Since informing him of the job, Kirsch had thrown himself into research on his computer, looking for ways to kill slayers, despite the fact Carmilla had already killed three - a point which he seemed inclined to ignore and chalk up to pure luck

“Okay so here’s a suggest from this dude in Sweden. He’s suggesting you poison her.” Kirsch said as he pulled his legs onto the couch, sitting cross-legged with the computer in his lap.

Carmilla rolled her eyes, changing the channel yet again before finally turning to him. “How in the world do you - the tallest, lankiest puppy dog I’ve ever met - manage to sit like that? Aren’t you in pain? Won’t you dislocate your knee or something?” 

Kirsch shook his head, smiling rather proudly, “Not if you are super flexible like me. Years of gymnastics growing up. I could always show you just how flexible I am.” Kirsch wiggled his eyebrows at her instinctually. It was playful, and not the first time he’d made these kinds of suggestions. Carmilla had accepted that it was a part of who he was, by this point.

“And I can kill you a hundred different ways, want me to show you?”

“You know, when you threaten to kill me like every twenty minutes it loses a lot of the threat.” Kirsch told her before turning the screen towards her. “Now a lot of these dudes and demons have suggestions but only a few are pretty solid. We really should only have one shot at this, and assassinating a slayer is the kind of thing that goes in those old musty books so I think we should do this with style.”

“All of those ideas are probably stupid.” Carmilla said, turning her attention back to the television.

Kirsch kept clicking away, ignoring the brush off from Carmilla. “Hmm, a few of these guys have questions about your preferred methods and stuff, do you want to reply?” He turned the computer towards Carmilla.

“Not really.”

“Is it ‘cause you aren’t sure how to work the forums? ‘Cause I’ll totally walk you through it.”

“Seriously, I am going to kill you.” Carmilla snapped, shooting a dirty look at Kirsch with a quick twist of her head.

“It’s not like you’ve got a better plan for killing her.” Kirsch huffed out as he snapped the laptop shut.

“I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Oh yes, I do.” Carmilla shot back with a wicked grin. Kirsch’s face slowly broke out into a smile as he looked at her eagerly and nodded his head, waiting for her answer. “I’m going to go to St. Lucia when she’s on vacation and shoot her with my favorite rifle.”

Instantly, Kirsch’s face fell and twisted into disappointment. “That’s like. The lamest assassination ever.”

******************************************************************************

“I’m so tired.” Laura whined as she shut her eyes and fell back onto Perry’s couch, sprawling her entire body across it. She could hear a soft tsk from Perry, probably due to the fact that Laura had laid down with her shoes still on her feet. She knew she should sit up and kick them off but her body was too exhausted to even do that.

“Well maybe you should stop running around all hours of the night and get yourself on a normal, structured sleeping schedule.” Perry finally responded, coming over to the couch and leaning over to untie Laura’s shoes so they were off the sofa.

“I’m not really in control of that, Per.” Laura mumbled, her eyes shutting slowly. “If you wanna blame someone for my lack of sleep, blame those dumb vampires.”

Perry made a little noise, somewhere between a squeak and a tut, and it caused Laura to smile immediately. Yes, Perry was fully aware of the supernatural, but that did not mean she enjoyed talking about it. Or even acknowledging what she had dubbed ‘Laura’s odd hobby’. Typically Laura did her best to not discuss it around Perry but exhaustion was lowering her inhibitions.

“You know, that week in St. Lucia is really going to do you some good.” Perry said as she placed Laura’s shoes under the couch and then draped a blanket over her. While Laura had a perfectly good couch and bed at her own place, Perry had learned over time that after spending a night out doing whatever it was that Laura did, she could never sleep alone. With Danny at work, Perry had been expecting Laura since around seven that morning.

“S’gonna do _you_ better.” Laura mumbled again, drifting off to sleep. Perry opened her mouth to question the statement but seeing the rise and fall of Laura’s chest, she just closed her mouth and silently obsessed over what the heck that meant.


	3. And I've Opened Myself Up To The Wrong And Felt That Pain

It was with great reluctance that Carmilla had agreed to bring Kirsch along with her to St. Lucia. She had been very stubborn about refusing him at first, but all six-plus feet of him had practically vibrated with childish excitement and he hadn’t been able to shut up about the sun and the waves. She had finally agreed to let him tag along so long as he’d shut up about it, but of course now that they had arrived, he was once again rambling on a high-frequency loop about “shredding waves.” Carmilla was about ready to rip his intestines out.

They were in their hotel room unpacking - Kirsch had brought along a different pair of board shorts for every day of the week, and Carmilla had set upon extracting each individual piece of her sniper rifle, preparing to clean it. They had vastly different plans for this trip.

“Are you really going to kill her here?” Kirsch asked, eying the gun carefully before turning his gaze back to Carmilla. He knew that his partner-in-literal-crime was many things, but a totally emotionally detached sociopath who’d kill someone right after their friends’ engagement wasn’t one of them. Or at least, Kirsch firmly chose to believe that she wasn’t.

“Yes.” Carmilla said as she snapped the slide together, holding up the rifle to inspect it.

Kirsch rolled his eyes and stuck his shorts in an empty drawer, “Okay, but like. Are you gonna wait until the celebration is over, or are you gonna swoop in like a black rain cloud and take her out in the middle of desert?”

“Why do you even care? It’s not like you’re going to help.”

“Hey! I’m here, right?”

“You’re here to _shred the waves and check out the hotties, brah_ ,” Carmilla said, mocking Kirsch’s dopey tone and flashing him the hang loose sign, just as he had been doing since she agreed to let him come along.

In response, Kirsch cocked his head at Carmilla and glared at her. She shrugged him off and went back to assembling the gun.

“Whatever.” He finally said as he pulled his shirt over his head “I’m gonna go have some actual fun while you do your broody, murderous vampire thing. Hit me up if you need anything.” Before she could even respond, Kirsch had dashed from their room to scout out the beach. Carmilla just rolled her eyes. She doubted she’d even see him until they left.

******************************************************************************

For Laura, St. Lucia had been three full days of unblemished bliss. Perry hadn’t caught on to the intent of this trip, and was under the impression that they were just on a lovely little vacation. LaF did their best to hide any nerves they had by indulging each and every one of Perry’s whims, to varying degrees of success. And Danny seemed to be having the time of her life, save for a few instances when Laura caught her deep in thought, a sad expression on her face. When Laura tried to bring it up, though, Danny brushed it off. Laura decided that she would press the matter further if she needed to, if those solemn looks persisted. For now, she was going to enjoy every second with her loved ones that she could. Once they were back home, she knew the countdown would be back on. 

 

Or at least she thought this vacation would be blissful and worry-free. In the early morning of their fourth day - the day of the proposal - she and Danny had been out riding jetskis and enjoying themselves, minding their own business. Out of nowhere, some jerk on jetski ripped through the water between them, causing wide waves to ripple between them. They watched as he laughed over his shoulder and took off past the soaking pair of them. Danny naturally revved her engine and tore after him, leaving Laura to chase after the two of them. When they finally caught up with him on the beach, Laura felt her stomach plummet. If _Kirsch_ was here, Carmilla couldn’t be far behind. Danny was so infuriated that she hadn’t even picked up on how Laura seemed to fold in on herself, looking even smaller. She strained to hear the conversation between them. Apparently they knew each other from school, something about “Zetas” and “Summer Society,” but Laura struggled to understand or care. She was too busy trying to deal with the way her stomach did flips, heat coursing through her. She could tell from the way Kirsch avoided her gaze that she had to be in danger.

She spent the whole day trying to stay positive and upbeat, for LaF and Perry, for Danny. Even for herself. It would happen when it happened. Carmilla was here, somewhere, and two scenarios played through Laura’s mind. The first was that Kirsch’s incursion on the jetski had been a warning from Carmilla, a calling card to let Laura know that she was here and waiting. The second was that Kirsch had screwed up by showing himself and now Carmilla was forced to change her plans. She had no idea just how right she was about the latter. She could have easily holed herself up in their hotel room, but this was LaF and Perry’s big night. She couldn’t ruin it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Danny asked, those concerned eyes hitting Laura like a ton of bricks. The two of them were in the room getting dressed for dinner and Laura knew she wasn’t doing a good job of hiding how nervous she was.

“Yeah, just really excited for LaF and Perry.” Laura said with a smile that was just a little too big, her voice higher than normal. Danny narrowed her eyes and sat down on the bed, still staring at Laura.

“Alright, what’s going on? You are acting very not you-like.”

Laura sighed and dipped her head, chewing on the bottom of her lip. There was no way she could talk to Danny about why seeing Kirsch had been so upsetting, about the contract to end her life, or any of the real reasons she was acting like this.

“It’s just weird that LaF and Perry are going to be engaged in like two hours.” Laura said, settling on a half truth instead of an outright lie. She let out a huff of a sigh and slumped on the bed next to her girlfriend. “And I won’t ever get to have any of that.”

“Why not?” Danny asked after a moment. Her voice was much softer than normal and Laura could hear in her voice that those words had stung. They had never had this conversation. In their four years as a couple, Laura realized that they never once talked about marriage or the future or any of those normal things like most couples did. They talked about slaying, about monsters and Laura’s safety.

Quietly, Laura reached over for her hand, lacing their fingers together quickly. She wouldn’t get to be married or anything like that because she had hired Carmilla to kill her, that was why not. But she could hardly explain that to Danny.

“Because I’m the slayer.” Laura simply said, her eyes looking down at their entwined hands, unable to meet Danny’s eyes. “I can’t get married and have kids and all that.”

“Why have you never mentioned this?” Danny asked and Laura could hear her trying to mask the break in her voice. She felt like she’d been kicked in the gut.

“I guess... I never really thought about it till LaF told me she was proposing. And then I realized that it just isn’t in the cards for me or... Even something I want anymore. My life is about vampires and demons and the things that go bump in the night.”

Silence passed between them. Laura could feel Danny squeezing her hand, but neither of them looked at the other or spoke. Danny didn’t need to say anything for Laura to know she wanted everything that she had given up on.

“We better get going.” Danny finally said, standing and pulling Laura up with her. She wrapped her arms around Laura’s tiny frame and pulled her into a tight hug. “We can talk about all this later. Right now, all you and I have to do is be happy for LaF and Perry and I think we’re capable of that.”

******************************************************************************

“You let her _see you_!” Carmilla yelled as she grabbed the alarm from the nightstand, ripping it’s cord from the wall before chucking it at Kirsch’s head.

“Whoa!” He yelped, throwing his arms over his head as he ducked down just in time to watch the clock burst into pieces against the wall, “I was just trying to help you! Draw her into the open, be the hot distraction and all that.”

A violent growl ripped from Carmilla’s throat as she turned to dramatically throw herself down onto the bed. She wasn’t going to admit it, especially to _Kirsch_ , but this had been the out she was hoping for. When she had received Laura’s email, Carmilla reacted emotionally - just as she always did when it came to Laura. But since arriving in St. Lucia, she had time to reevaluate her plans. She realized that, while it would do wonders for her reputation, she was not so heartless as to murder someone in cold blood just moments after witnessing a celebrated moment like their friend’s proposal.

“Well I certainly can’t kill her tonight.” Carmilla finally huffed as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. She appeared to have come down from her tirade, and Kirsch visibly relaxed from his tense stance. “I suppose a bit of recon work wouldn’t hurt. You did bring clothes other than those awful shorts right?”

“Aw man, I thought you were going to say we could go to the club and pick up chicks.” Kirsch said with a frown as he padded over to the dresser, pulling out the only normal outfit he’d brought with him.

******************************************************************************

“Why do you seem more nervous than me?” LaFontaine asked in a hushed whisper as they followed Laura inside. Perry was leading the way, deeply involved in an animated conversation with Danny regarding the fame of their chosen restaurant, The Pink Plantation House. “I’m the one that’s proposing, remember?”

“I’m not.” Laura protested quickly with a shake of her head, trying to push away visions of Carmilla ambushing her at dinner., “Well, I _am_ , but I’m just nervous for you. Have you figured out the whole ‘how’ part of your proposal yet?”

LaF shook their head, hanging back with Laura as the two of them shrugged their coats off. In all the planning it took to get permission, get the ring, and get to St. Lucia, LaFontaine still had yet to figure out the actual _asking_ part. They just knew that the restaurant was the best place to do it since Perry had been dreaming about eating at The Pink Plantation House since reading about it in some culinary magazine a few years back.

“Maybe I’ll drop it in her champagne glass?” LaF offered up hopefully in a quiet voice. 

Laura drew her eyebrows together and frowned, shaking her head urgently. “Absolutely not. What if she chokes on it? Listen, Perry really likes traditional and normal. Just get down on one knee before dessert and tell her how much you love her. Tell her all the wonderful things about her and your favorite moments and how you can’t possibly fathom loving anyone else.”

“Whoa,” LaFontaine said with a small smirk, “You’ve put some thought into that. You sure you’re not thinking about asking Danny?”

Laura felt her stomach drop, guilt pooling in her belly. The words she spoke had been sincere for LaFontaine and their relationship with Perry, but when it came down to it, she just couldn’t find that same kind of devotion in her for her girlfriend. There were so many wonderful things about Danny that she loved, but the fact of the matter was that she could conceive herself loving another. And she certainly could fathom Danny loving someone else far more than she had ever loved her. Besides, the end of her life was on the horizon anyway. Thinking about this kind of stuff wasn’t going to do anyone any good.

“This is your night, LaF. And Perry’s.” Laura responded gently as they finally joined Danny and Perry at the table. Perry instantly took LaF’s hand in her own and squeezed it to her chest, her eyes wide in excitement as she glanced around.

“This place is so amazing.” Perry said, still drinking in every inch of the place. “I’m sure this night is going to be amazing, I mean look at that view!”

“I don’t think you’re wrong, Per.” LaF said, their eyes beaming as they gazed upon Perry’s face.

******************************************************************************

Kirsch’s ‘normal’ clothes turned out to be a tuxedo tee-shirt that utterly mortified Carmillla. Of course, he had tried to justify the atrocious thing by pairing it with a jacket and calling it ‘classy casual’. Carmilla vowed to burn the shirt the moment the first opportunity arose.

“So like, TripAdvisor says this is the number one restaurant in Castries and all these reviews just rave about the food. Oooh, cocktails!” Kirsch rambled on, his finger scrolling the length of his screen quickly. 

“We’re going there to spy, not eat. This is not a vacation and we are not tourists.” Carmilla reminded him for the upteenth time. “We go, we watch, we _don’t_ engaged, we plan, and then we leave. Is there any part of this that you don’t understand?”

“Have you ever had goat stew? All these people are saying it was the best goat stew ever. Do you think it’s made with real goats?” Kirsch continued on, completely oblivious to everything Carmilla had said.

“Just try not to talk.” She said with a groan, handing cash to the cab driver as they pulled in front of the restaurant. Kirsch just nodded and followed her lead as they navigated their way through. The crowd was thick enough that they couldn’t walk two steps without brushing past someone, but even sitting Danny was two heads taller than most, and her flaming red hair was a dead giveaway. Grabbing Kirsch’s wrist, Carmilla pulled him over to a vacant table, spaced far enough behind Laura so that she wouldn’t notice them, but that still provided a clear line of sight to her table. Now all she had to do was wait.

“Mai Tais and goat stew.” Kirsch grinned, rubbing his hands together excitedly. It wasn’t the first time she’d rolled her eyes at him that night, nor was it the last.

******************************************************************************

“I’m scared I’m not going to have room for the dessert.” Perry announced with a laugh as she placed her napkin on the table, leaning back into her chair a little more. Her eyes found a place to rest out on the coast of the island. Her attention was so wrapped up in the view that she completely missed both Danny and Laura exchanging significant looks with LaFontaine.

“Uh, I want to do something before dessert gets here.” LaF said suddenly and a little too loudly, their voice shaking slightly as they did. Perry’s eyes instantly snapped from the water to her partner, concerned as she tenderly reached out to touch LaF’s cheek.

“Are you okay?” She asked, leaning forward into LaF. They laughed in response and shook their head at her.

“I’m fine okay? I’ve just been wanting to do this for awhile, so... I’m a little nervous,” they said as they pushed their chair back.

Perry watched carefully as LaFontaine slowly bent one knee down before reaching into their pocket. Something suddenly clicked and Perry gaped, her jaw dropping. “Oh my God,” she squealed, her hand instantly going over her heart.

“Per,” LaF said, nervously running their tongue across their bottom lip as a lopsided grin started growing over their features, “I like to think sometimes that I’m the Jay-Z to your Beyonce. By which I mean you really are fresh, fierce and flawless.”

Danny covered her mouth with her hand, trying to keep her composure as she glanced at Laura, who gave her a playful glare and swatted her knee discreetly under the table. In all of LaFontaine’s endless planning for this trip, Danny realized in that moment they had no idea how to stage the actual proposal.

“And when Beyonce told Jay-Z that if he liked it he should put a ring on it, he listened.” LaF continued, starting to ramble as nervous knots in their stomach tightened with each passing moment. They knew Perry would say yes, they knew that she loved them, but this moment was so surreal and LaF didn’t know how to condense the mountain of emotions they had for this woman into a few tidy paragraphs. Laura’s voice slowly creeped into their mind, reminding them of the good and wonderful things. “You are amazing Perry,” LaFontaine said, their voice finally steadying out, “And I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone except you. You are the nicest, sweetest, sexiest, and most incredible human being I’ve ever encountered. And I really want to know… Will you marry me?”

Perry had been dying to scream yes from the moment LaFontaine dropped to their knee, but she knew them better than anyone. The nerves were there, she could hear the subtle shake in their voice and Perry wanted to wait, to let LaF say the words in their heart before she spoke her own. “Yes.” Perry said, tears falling from her eyes in big, messy rivulets the second her mouth opened. “Yes. Yes. _Yes_.”

Without warning, the entire restaurant broke into applause, led loudly by Kirsch. Even Carmilla clapped along, though she ducked further down into her chair to avoid Laura’s detection. There was no hope in hiding Kirsch, but she could at least hope that Laura assumed he was alone again. Those thoughts were quickly laid to rest, however, when she locked eyes with her mark. She pressed her lips thin and shook her head once before they both looked away. Not now. Not tonight.

******************************************************************************

Despite the fact that the proposal had only happened a few hours ago, Laura felt like it had been years. Ages, even. Danny had been sound asleep when she snuck out of their villa in the middle of the night. Even at this hour, the island was still full of life, spots of people all around the beach, most of them couples who were intimately wrapped up in one another.

Chaotic and calm. A perfect metaphor of herself.

“That was some proposal,” came a voice from beside her. A small smile crossed onto Laura’s face - something she had no business doing when she considered the source.

“Here to kill me?” Laura asked lightly, her head tilting just a fraction to look sideways at Carmilla. All she got in response was half a shrug, “Not dramatic enough for you out here?”

“Oh it could be plenty dramatic, it just takes all the fun out of it for me if you see me coming.” Carmilla quipped as she lowered herself to the sand, legs stretched out in front as she propped herself up on the sand. She cast a questioning look up at Laura and the smaller woman responded in turn by dropping beside her, copying the way she splayed out on the beach.

“So why are you here, then?” Laura asked, her eyes resting on the waves that rolled in. She kept them on the horizon despite her urge to turn to Carmilla.

“To tell you that I’m not going to kill you in St. Lucia. Kirsch ruined that for me.”

“So he wasn’t some sort of cryptic ‘I’m here and I see you.’ warning for me then? Maybe you aren’t as dramatic as I thought.”

“Oh, I am.”

Laura laughed a deep, sincere laugh and Carmilla grinned to herself, proud that it was her doing.

“This is weird.” Laura finally sighed after several moments of silence. “I’ve hired to you to kill me and we’re sitting here laughing like we’re friends.”

“Maybe it’s all part of my plan, sweetheart,” Carmilla replied languidly. She might act sure of herself, but she never could put a finger on why she felt so off around Laura, especially when she put things so bluntly. “Maybe I’m making you think I’m nice and friendly so I can kill you when you don’t expect it and put your guard down completely.”

“Okay, Carm.” Laura responded, rolling her eyes and turning her head towards Carmilla to give her that same sad smile. The one from the bridge. Carmilla had grown fond of many of Laura’s smiles, but this one made her want to dig into her own skin.

“Why do you want to die?” Carmilla asked, curiosity getting the best of her. It didn’t make sense. A girl like Laura, an eternal optimist who sought out the best and genuinely tried to good in her life, didn’t just wake up on a Tuesday to decide that it was time to end her own life by the most extreme means possible.

Minutes passed, and all Carmilla could hear was the steady in-and-out of Laura’s breathing. She ached for some form of telepathy so she could read whatever intense thoughts undoubtedly ran through the blonde’s mind.

“Can’t expect me to give away all my secrets.”

Denial. Rejection. Both of which Carmilla had been expecting, but that did not to make her feel better. She sighed and stood up from her seat on the beach, signaling that their little timeout was over.

“I’ll see you around, cupcake,” Carmilla said, bidding her goodbye as she turned away, not giving so much as a glance back at her.

“I’m sure you will,” Laura replied to the empty sand next to her..

******************************************************************************

This was the perfect place to do it. Carmilla had it all planned out in her head. At the end of the day, when they were all packed up and ready to go, she would squeeze the trigger and end Laura’s life, right there in front of the people she loved most. Her chat with Laura the previous night had gotten her all off, for a lack of a better word. She was angry and vengeful again. In Carmilla’s mind, they all deserved what she was about to bestow upon them. The burning desire to discover why Laura wanted such a violent conclusion to her own life had utterly consumed her. Even more, it enraged her to think that the people who spent every day with her, who were supposed to take care of her, had missed the fact that she was so suicidal that she had hired an unhinged vampire assassin to do the job for her.

All day Carmilla waited, her eyes trained through scopes and binoculars, watching as Laura laughed and went about enjoying her last day in St. Lucia. She looked so happy and full of life and completely unaware that it would all be over soon. Maybe she truly believed that she was safe in St. Lucia now, that Carmilla would keep her promise. And perhaps this was a little on the extreme side, but since when was extreme out of the ordinary for Carmilla?

All she had to do was wait. The perfect moment would appear, she knew it would. They were all so disgustingly, blissfully oblivious down there. At least, everyone but Laura.

It literally took all day, but finally, by late afternoon they started to pack and Carmilla snapped to attention. She pressed her eye to the scope of her rifle and found Laura easily, lining her up in the crosshairs. Her finger rested in the trigger guard, molded to the curve of it. One quick squeeze and it would be over, all of it. Carmilla waited patiently. The shot had to be perfect. Everything was finally packed. Danny was smiling. It was now - now was the time to pull the trigger. Laura was standing still, in the center of her crosshair, perfectly aligned for the shot.

“ _Fuck_.” Carmilla swore, dropping her finger and pulling her head away from the scope. She failed. She had gone to great lengths to ensure she would get this shot and instead she failed.

No. She could do this, she would do this. Laura wasn’t going to tell her why and she didn’t need to know. She didn’t need to care.

With a new determination, she pressed her eye back to the scope and swiftly found Laura again. But this time she could have sworn that the slayer was staring straight back at her. Shaking, Carmilla pulled back, took a steadying breath, and told herself that she was imagining things. It was nerves, a trick of the mind. However, when she peered through the scope again, Laura was still looking at her. This time she was shaking her head, disappointed. But at what? Disappointed she didn’t take the shot? Disappointed she didn’t leave? 

Carmilla clenched her jaw and kept her gun steady on the petite form of her target, pressing her eye a little too hard against the scope. It was an ounce of pain she didn’t have the time to deal with, because Laura was still staring when Danny put an arm around her shoulder.

No more doubts. No more questions and no more second guesses. Carmilla took a deep breath and squeezed the life out of her trigger.


	4. What Happened To Bulletproof Weeks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Co-written by Carter (sexshark) and Caitlin (operativelawsons). You can follow us on Tumblr for random nonsense and updates.

With an eye pressed against the cold metal of her sight, Carmilla watched as Laura slumped to the ground like a wilted flower petal. She refused to blink, for fear of missing anything. She knew the bullet had nailed her right in the head, and there was simply no way to survive a shot like that. The crowd had scattered and she could see Danny’s mouth open and close rapidly, like a fish gasping for breath, but she couldn’t hear or read the words on her lips. If Carmilla had to take a guess, she was probably screaming at Laura, as if she could bring her back by sheer will alone. She watched as Danny shook Laura’s lifeless body, just as LaFontaine and Perry came into view. They were both yelling as well, but it was pointless. Laura was dead and Carmilla’s finger ached in pain for having pulled the trigger.

******************************************************************************

It had been three weeks since they had come home from St. Lucia and the events of that last day still haunted Carmilla in the early hours of morning. It stuck to her like molasses, slowing her down and fogging her mind. She couldn’t shake the dread she felt every time she turned to her bed each dawn. It was something that Kirsch couldn’t ignore.

Upon coming home to their flat one day, he had to struggle with the door as something on the other side blocked it from opening properly. After some effort, he was able to slide past the entrance sideways and shut the door behind him. As soon as he was inside to see what had prevented him from getting through, he let out a deep groan. The lifeless body of some random guy with two large puncture wounds in his neck was there to welcome him home. Scanning the room, he pinpointed another handful or so of discarded bodies and he tossed his keys onto the side table, pulling out the mail from under his arm so he could start shuffling through it.

“Y’know instead of killing every single dude you see, maybe you could focus your psycho energy into dealing with what you did. Just an idea!” Kirsch called out as he headed to the kitchen, dropping the mail off on the counter. It was mostly bills, anyway. “Cause I’m no vampire psychologist, but I don’t think this is healthy.”

Carmilla popped her head up from behind the couch, blood dripping from her chin as she scowled at him. She didn’t need Kirsch reminding her of Laura, she already had her dreams each morning to do that well enough for her. Looking down at her meal, her bloodlust vanished, and she easily flung the dead body aside. She watched as it landed like a ragdoll a few feet from the others.

“It’s really dangerous to interrupt a vampire when she’s feeding.” Carmilla drawled, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she got up from the couch to join Kirsch in the kitchen. “I could have just slaughtered you in a frenzy.”

“You can’t tell me that all of this-” Kirsch waved a hand, gesturing vaguely at the mess she’d made. “- is just because you needed to feed.” He raised his eyebrows pointedly at her as he grabbed a Mountain Dew from the fridge. “You wanna talk about your weird conflicted feelings and crap?”

Walking behind him, Carmilla lifted her palm and slapped Kirsch on the side of his head. His immediate yelp in pain brought a grin to her face. “There’s nothing to talk about, there are no _feelings,”_ she said as she hopped up onto the counter. “And I’m not bothering with Laura right now. I’ve got a different job.”

Kirsch sighed and turned, leaning back against the opposite counter. He’d never seen a contract get to Carmilla like this. She was just acting so weird and moody - far more moody than usual, anyway - and Kirsch just didn’t know how to handle her when she was like this. Sure, she wasn’t exactly the easiest psychotic vampire chick in the world to handle, but he had a pretty good idea on how to deal with her most of the time. But this… This side of Carmilla was completely new to Kirsch. This tormented and haunted version of her just wasn’t his area of expertise at all.

“Look, it’s really fucking with you,” Kirsch told her bluntly, sipping his soda, “I mean, I heard you wake up again last night so like if you wanna talk about it or whatever. I’m here.”

“There is nothing to talk about, Kirsch,” Carmilla responded sharply, clenching her jaw as she tried to reign in her anger. She knew he meant well but she couldn’t talk about it.

“You shot Laura.”

“Shot _at,”_ Carmilla corrected through gritted teeth. “That bullet is somewhere at the bottom of the ocean and she’s perfectly fine.”

“Yeah, but that’s what’s fucking you up,” Kirsch countered. “I’ve never seen you miss a shot ever, and you haven’t even tried to go after her again. You gotta get back up on that horse, cowboy. Well. Cow _girl,_ but it’s pretty much the same idea, y’know?”

Carmilla groaned like she was in pain and rolled her eyes. The last thing that she needed right now was for Kirsch to play shrink for her. His brain didn’t contain enough cells to comprehend the vast amount of torment she’s had to endure over the course of several centuries.

“I’ll deal with Laura. In the meantime, however, if you could shut the fuck up, I’ll tell you about the new job offer we have.” Carmilla raised her eyebrows and gave Kirsch a wicked grin, knowing the use of we would certainly get him on board.

******************************************************************************

“Don’t you have your own place?” LaF asked as they walked out of their bedroom only to be greeted by the sight of Laura draped across their couch for the purposes of taking over their Playstation. They scratched their head and moved sit down next to her.

“Yeah, but Danny’s chaperoning that class trip to the Catalina Islands this week and I don’t like staying home alone.” Laura replied without taking her eyes off the screen. LaFontaine watched as she frantically mashed the buttons on her controller, apparently taking the ‘quantity over quality’ approach. “Ugh, this game is so stupid.”

“That’s because you are doing it wrong, give it here.” LaFontaine chastised, snatching the controller out of Laura’s hands so they could restart the level.

Laura huffed out a sigh and leaned back, watching them play the game. They seemed so much happier, and not the fake kind of happy that people do while they try and convince the world everything is okay. LaFontaine truly seemed much happier since returning from St. Lucia. Engagement suited them.

Laura, on the other hand, was about two steps away from completely breaking. She had no real explanation for how she’d known Carmilla had been perched up in a window, waiting for her kill. Not other than the sick feeling she’d had in her stomach that entire morning. She’d felt it in her bones. The whole point of asking Carmilla not to let her know when the end was coming was so she wouldn’t feel so petrified when it did. Danny had been standing right next to her, completely oblivious to what was happening but endlessly asking if she was alright. In a split second, she could have been dead in Danny’s arms. That knowledge had left her feeling unbalanced.

LaFontaine elbowed Laura in the side a little more forcefully than necessary, pulling her from her thoughts. They’d apparently been talking to her, from what she could tell by the expectant look on their face, but she hadn’t heard a word.

“You okay, Laura?” LaF asked, concerned. Laura just nodded her head, trying to push her worries from her head.

“Yeah, yeah,” she lied cooly, waving LaF off with her hand. “Just tired from last night with the…” Laura paused and looked around to make sure Perry wasn’t around to overhear them, _“vampire stuff.”_

LaFontaine instantly perked up, completely shifting their attention to Laura. If they had a say in it, they’d be far more involved with Laura’s slaying gig. They were dying for the chance to dig deeper into the history and practice of Laura's training and their sudden attention brought a slight chuckle from Laura. LaFontaine would have been a much better vampire slayer than she ever would be, they actually seemed invested in it. Well, Laura was invested - just invested in one vampire and one vampire only. She really couldn’t bring herself to care about any of the rest of them. She was pretty sure that was against nature, or at least a few centuries-old slayer rules. She didn’t feel like asking JP to clear that one up for her. But she turned her attention back to her friend, and LaF’s eager face gave Laura the indication to continue.

“There’s some weird vampire cult order thing in town. JP wants me to take them out, but I think he’s forgetting there is exactly one of me and like twelve of them. I spent all last night stalking them, and man, they are just so boring. All they did was sit around this weird shiny ball thing all night.”

“Hmm.” LaFontaine hummed, tapping their chin as they lost themselves in deep thought. Twelve against one was problematic, and even with weapons, Laura would still be woefully out-manned. “That's definitely some David-and-Goliath shenanigans you've got on your hands there, Holls. What if you used some kind of biological weapon against them?” LaF suggested, their eyes widening in excitement. Laura could already tell they had a dozen half-cocked ideas running through their head. “Like a grenade or projectile. I’m positive we could whip something up.”

“You just want an excuse to blow stuff up and run experiments, don’t you?” Laura giggled, and LaF just shrugged in response. They definitely weren't denying it. “I’m not even sure if vampires have any biological weaknesses. There’s not really a precedent for this kind of thing. It’s not like we can use smallpox on them if they’re already dead. I think that technically makes them immune.”

“Have you checked out any of those diaries JP has?” LaFontaine suggested, “As opposed to, you know, using them as bath mats.”

“That was _one time,”_ Laura shot back quickly. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, thinking of those books and what was in them. All she’d ever found in those books were more tales of tragedy. Not a single slayer she’d ever read about had been able to find a happy ending. And now she was just one more of them. “Besides, I’ve never seen anything like that in JP’s books. It’s all doom and gloom and fire and brimstone. There’s hardly ever anything useful and you have to sift through a thousand passages of depressing crap for a single sliver of insight.”

LaF opened their mouth to speak but stopped, looking at Laura. This wasn’t the first time they’d noticed her mood swings, they had started to become a frequent occurrence. In all the years that they’d been friends, LaFontaine had never seen Laura quite like this. Something just wasn’t quite right. “Laura, are you okay?” they finally asked. They’d had a mind to ask since before St. Lucia, but it had never seemed like the right time.

Laura nodded, but LaF wanted to press further because in no universe was Laura okay. Something was eating away at her under the surface and LaFontaine had been so busy with the trip and proposal that they had ignored all of the signs, which only made them feel more guilty. They’d hoped that maybe a vacation would help bring back the Laura they knew and loved, but the girl currently sitting on their couch next to them was a shadow. They needed to change that.

“You know, Perry’s out looking at spaces today. She wants to open her own bakery,” they said, tossing the controller that they’d been ignoring onto the table in front of them.

“That’s awesome!” Laura said, suddenly perking up, a smile instantly crossing onto her lips. Perry had been talking about running her own bakery ever since the shop she currently worked for had come under new management.

“Well if you aren’t too tired, we could always go with her.” LaF offered, reassured by Laura’s shifted mood. “Besides, there’s a good chance she’ll want to at least test the kitchens out, so. Snacks.”

At the mention of snacks, Laura was up on her feet and heading towards the door, _“Hurry up!”_

That was much more like it.

******************************************************************************

Kirsch stood with his back against the counter, arms folded and his jaw slacked wide open. In all the time he’d known Carmilla, he had certainly watched her take some crazy jobs, but this one was by far the most ridiculous. Carmilla just sat on the countertop with her leather-clad legs crossed, grinning at Kirsch in amusement.

“So you’re telling me that the Order of Vakarian wants you to take out the Order of Krios ‘cause they’ve got some mystical relic that could, like. Cause total mayhem and chaos all over the earth? And you’re gonna single handedly kill twelve vampires who have been alive for at least a thousand years each?” Kirsch said slowly, still trying to wrap his mind around the situation. He narrowed his eyes like there were still gears rotating between his ears.

“Well, I won’t be alone, now will I?” Carmilla responded pointedly.

“You’re gonna let me help kill them? Seriously?”

“You’re the one who is always going on about his badass ninja skills. I’m just letting you put your mouth where your money is.”

“It’s money where your mouth is,” Kirsch corrected, though he withered under the glare she cast him immediately after.

“Whatever. Are you in or not?” Carmilla sighed. He was wearing on her nerves already.

“Are you only doing this so I shut up about your whole Laura thing? Like you’re gonna distract me from your slayer hottie complex with a super cool vampire cult hit job. Cause if that’s what you think, that’s totally cool by me,” Kirsh said, a massive, lopsided grin appearing on his face.

Carmilla just rolled her eyes and gave a noncommittal shrug, trying not to acknowledge that Kirsch had hit the nail on the head. Perhaps she was letting him get him get too close. They’d been spending a lot of time together, and she didn’t want him to think that she actually cared. She should probably distance herself.

Kirsch busied himself with the fridge again, pulling packets of cold meat out and stacking them on the countertop. He always managed to look so doofy doing even the most basic of things. There was a weird uncomfortable feeling that struck through Carmilla as she contemplated sending Kirsch away. It was the kind of guilty feeling she got whenever she knew she was doing something wrong, the same feeling she got when she knew she was going to do it anyway. She thought that she’d gotten past that kind of weakness a long time ago.

******************************************************************************

Carmilla peered through her binoculars from the treeline, looking down into the valley where the Order of Krios had set up camp. She frowned at the figures, watching as they all gathered around the orb they had in their possession. Vakarian wasn’t in the wrong for wanting these bastards gone, she knew. Whatever the hell this orb was, it wasn’t good news, she could say that much.

“Dude, do you think it’s a dragon egg?” Kirsch chimed in from beside her, tearing into a bag of beef jerky. She rolled her eyes and issued a disgusted noise. He’d been trying to guess the nature of the orb ever since they’d set up their perch and she was having trouble remembering why she had brought him along in the first place. “Because that would be seriously cool. I want a dragon.”

“There’s no such thing as dragons, lackwit,” she chastised, shooting him a glare. She curled her lip at half-eaten bag of jerky in his hands.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think vampires were real either, but here we are,” he countered with a grin. He tilted the open end of his bag toward Carmilla, offering her a piece. He grinned even wider when she sneered in response, going back to her binoculars. “What are they even doing with that thing, anyway? It looks like an oversized, glowing pokeball.”

“I’m not going to justify that by asking you what the hell a pokeball is.”

“Wait, you don’t know what _Pokemon_ is? Oh my god, when we get home we have got to-”

“Would you shut the hell up?” Carmilla snapped, effectively cutting him off. She squeezed her eyes shut and raised one hand to rub at her temple. “Look, we’re here on a job. Job means money, unless you can’t take this seriously. If you fuck this up for us, I’ll leave you here to deal with Krios on your own, you hear me?”

“Jeez, who pissed in your cheerios?” Kirsch grumbled through another mouthful of jerky.

Carmilla let out a frustrated growl in exasperation, dropping her binoculars so she could check over the supplies that they’d brought with them. Carmilla normally preferred guns, as she didn’t like to get her hands too dirty if she could help it, but vampires would mean getting up close and personal. She had a pair of specially-made stakes with her that were designed to be used like daggers. She pulled them from her pack in the back seat of the truck, wanting to check over them one last time before heading in. “Okay, you remember the plan, right? I’m going down there, I’ll take them out and get the orb, then you and I get the fuck out of here. Worst-case, I’ll snatch the orb alone and I’ll need you to be ready to drive like hell because we’ll have a flock of angry vampires on our tail. Capiche?”

Kirsch nodded firmly, squaring his jaw as he squinted down into the clearing at the Krios vampires. She watched as he furrowed his brows, a confused look crossing his face. Suddenly, he dropped the bag of jerky in his hands and grabbed the binoculars hanging around her neck, nearly choking her as he trained them down at vampire cult. “Uhh, Carmilla?”

“Jesus christ, Kirsch!” Carmilla swore, extracting herself from the strap on the binoculars, rubbing her neck.

“Sorry boss, but ah… You may want to get your broody vampire butt down there,” he replied, his voice a few notches higher than normal. “That is, unless this whole gig is just a ploy to get the Order of Krios to take out slayer hottie for you.”

_“What?”_ Carmilla hissed, snatching the binoculars from Kirsch’s hands. She peered into them, pointing them in the same direction that Kirsch had just been looking. Sure enough, on the opposite side of the clearing, she could make out the petite form of the one and only Laura Hollis. An angry groan ripped from her throat and she shoved the binoculars back into Kirsch’s hands, whirling around to grab her daggers.

“Whoah, slow down there champ,” Kirsch blurted, stumbling after her.

“There’s no time to _slow down,_ Laura’s about to get herself eaten,” she snarled, checking her daggers once over as she blew past Kirsch. “Stay here.”

“Don’t you think that, you know, after years of vampire slayer training she might be take care of herself?” he pointed out, peering through the binoculars again. “And don’t you think you should be careful, instead of just barreling in there?”

“Just be ready, numbnuts.”

******************************************************************************

Okay, so maybe Laura was a little out-numbered. And maybe this was one of the more extravagant plans she has ever had to cook up, but JP never would have sent her in alone if he didn’t think she had a chance, right?

_Right?_

Laura rolled her eyes at herself, dropping to one knee so she could check her pack again. It was probably silly that she was feeling so nervous about this. After all, she was still waiting on Carmilla to swoop in and snap her neck any day now. If she got herself killed tonight, it would save the vampire some trouble and she could still collect her paycheck. It’s not like Laura would need the money.

The mason jars in her pack were all still secure, and she pulled one out to wonder at it again. She really had to hand it to LaFontaine for whipping these up. She didn’t really understand the science behind it, but LaF must have been able to glean more from the stack of diaries in JP’s library than she had ever been able to. A strange, green fog filled the jar in her hand and whatever it was, both LaFontaine and JP were confident that it was going to help. Laura supposed she would just have to trust them.

Keeping one of the makeshift grenades in her hand, she shouldered her pack with the rest and rose to her feet. Below her, she could see a dozen or so vampires in the clearing ahead, all surrounding that same glowing orb that she’d seen before and muttering some kind of strange chant. The eerie melody put the hair on the back of her neck on end. JP had tried to explain what the orb was, but he had a habit of oversharing on details. The point she’d taken was that this was a bad orb. A very, very bad orb. She was pretty sure there was something about demon-summoning, but really her main focus was taking out these vampires so they wouldn’t be able to complete whatever weird ritual they were trying to do.

After years of training, she had learned how to move silently. She still wasn’t the best at it yet, especially on this uneven forest floor, but she wasn’t awful. She only snapped a few twigs on her way down to the vampires. She positioned herself behind a big rock overlooking the cult and had just been about to toss her grenade in when she felt something yank her arm back.

“Laura, what the frilly _hell_ are you doing here?” Carmilla hissed, keeping her voice low enough that she wouldn’t be heard over the chanting below.

“Hey!” she yelped, clapping her hand over her mouth as she realized how loud that must have been.

Carmilla shushed her ferociously and tried to pull her back, away from the edge of the rock. “Do you have any what is going on here, sundance? These bastards will skin you alive, come _on.”_

“Uh, _yeah._ I’m a vampire slayer, remember?” Laura scoffed, shrugging out of Carmilla’s grip. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what _you’re_ doing here, are you? And I don’t see why you should care so much about my skin., aren’t you supposed to be the one taking care of that yourself?”

“Well maybe I don’t like the idea of someone else taking _credit._  Now would you just get out of here?”

“Oh, that’s real fresh coming from you. I don’t remember you caring much about saving my hide when you were on my tail in Rome last su-”

Suddenly Carmilla was much closer, invading her personal space as she clamped her fingers around the smaller woman’s mouth. Her eyes were wide and she looked like she was about to bolt, like she’d heard something. After a moment, Laura realized what had gotten her so spooked. It wasn’t what she had heard, it was what she _wasn’t_ hearing. The vampires had stopped singing.

The two of them locked eyes, coming to an unspoken understanding. Like it or not, they had gotten themselves into this and they were would need each other if they were going to fight their way out. Any moment a pack of ravenous vampires would be pouncing on them, and they were each other’s only ticket to survival.

Carmilla lowered her hand and reached behind her to unsheathe her stakes, rolling them in her hands by the hilt. At the same time, Laura pulled out a stake of her own, the mason jar grenade still ready and poised. They shared another look, both with their jaws set and steely determination in their eyes. Carmilla glanced at the big boulder in front of them, the only thing that separated them from the vampire cult ahead. Slowly, she gave Laura a single nod.

It was all the signal Laura needed. In the next moment, they both launched themselves forward, rounding the corner of the giant rock to meet all twelve cultist vampires with stakes in hand. By the looks of it, the vampires had been about to drop in on them with their own attack. Laura and Carmilla rose to the challenge with all the ferocity and terror they could muster. Within the first minute, cult’s numbers were cut nearly in half as three stakes were swiftly put to good work. Laura spiked the knockout grenade at the earliest opportunity, breaking the jar open on the ground. She immediately noticed how the fog took hold of the vampires, making them lethargic and slowing their movements.

“Ha!” Laura exclaimed with a triumphant laugh, reaching for another mason jar so she could shatter it on the nearest fiend’s head. Fog rose from his crown like steam and she plunged her stake into his heart. “That’s four for me, Carm! How many have you got?”

She turned to face the woman fighting at her side and her grin immediately dropped. She was just in time to watch Carmilla stake one more vampire before she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

_“Crap.”_ Laura whirled back around to face the last handful of vampires, making quick work of the ones that were actually still standing. By the time she was checking over the the bodies on the ground to make sure they’d all been properly dealt with, Carmilla’s big dopey puppydog of a partner had bounded down to her. He apparently had ran down as fast as he could and was now struggling to regain his breath.

“Funny-” he wheezed, stopping a few feet from her, his hands on his knees. “-seeing you-” Another huff. “-here.”

_“Kirsch,_ thank god,” Laura greeted, pulling her stake from the last of the unconscious vampires. She had never been so happy to see him in her life. She finally turned her attention back to Carmilla, kneeling beside her so she could pull her head into her lap. The vampire looked a little paler than normal, but it was hard to tell. Laura set a hand to Carmilla’s slender neck and was relieved to find a faint pulse. In her studies, she learned that vampires had weaker pulses, so she hoped this meant Carmilla was just knocked out. From what JP and LaFontaine had told her of the gas, it wouldn’t do anything more than that, but this was also the first time they had been able to test it out. She’d hate herself if she was the reason something bad happened to Carmilla.

“Slayer hottie, what did you do?” Kirsch asked, alarm rising in his voice as he took in the scene. “You didn’t-”

“No, she’s fine,” she cut him off, struggling to pull Carmilla up off the ground. “At least, I hope she is. Just- Will you help me get her up?”

He nodded and bent to easily scoop Carmilla’s limp form up into his arms.  He frowned slightly and shot Laura a warning glare. “She better be okay.”

“Yeah,” was all Laura could say in response, guilt knotting in her stomach. She left Kirsch’s side briefly to grab the orb from where it was still glowing in the center of the clearing. She carefully slipped it into her pack before returning. She reached up to brush Carmilla’s hair away from her face. “Come on, we should go get her taken care of.”

“The truck is up this way,” Kirsch agreed, stepping over bodies as he headed up toward the treeline where they had parked earlier. “You wouldn’t happen to know any vampire doctors, would you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't really think we'd do that to you, did you? Shenanigans.


End file.
